Senate resolution calls for balanced budget amendment to U.S. Constitution

Pavlov co-sponsors amendment forcing Congress to live within its means, like states

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan is calling on Congress to pass a balanced budget amendment with a resolution which passed the Senate on Thursday, said Sen. Phil Pavlov.

Senate Joint Resolution V officially petitions Congress to take the necessary steps toward passing a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution.

"A balanced budget amendment would require that, like Michigan, Congress adopt an annual federal budget in which spending does not exceed revenues. The only exception would be in cases of emergency," said Pavlov, R-St. Clair Township. "This is simply about requiring the federal government to do what families all across Michigan and the nation must do: live within their means."

Nineteen states have already approved the resolution. Once it is adopted by 15 more states, it becomes binding on Congress.

Currently, the national debt is $16.7 trillion, or nearly $54,000 per person and just under $150,000 per taxpayer. By 2017, the federal debt is estimated to surpass $22 trillion, and in 25 years, the national debt is expected to equal America's total annual economic output.

"We can't go on like this. Eventually the financial house of cards will collapse, and the results will be catastrophic," Pavlov said. "In Michigan, we don't have a choice; we must balance the budget every year. This has been one of the keys to our recovery."

He noted that regardless of which party is in power in the state, the budget is always balanced because the state constitution requires it.